catalogue

CINDY

FREE ADVICE (TOUGH LOVE)

CINDY - FREE ADVICE 149769
format:
1 LP
release:
21.01.2022
label:
TOUGH LOVE
item ID:
149769
barcode:
5055869547611
Limited Black vinyl repress (500 copies)! The lead singer and main songwriter of Cindy, Karina Gill, started the group after picking up a guitar and singing for the first time in 2016.

The project went on to release an eponymous, self-produced debut album in 2018. Returning the same rhythm section and adding a dedicated keyboardist, Cindy's second album, Free Advice, showcases the group's unusual amalgam of indie pop and dedicated slowcore inspirations.

The 11-track, 36-minute set goes by quickly but also languidly with mostly plodding tempos alongside vocals that come across like half-spoken, distracted thoughts.

At the same time, many of the band's tunes have the hooks and slogans of classic indie pop -- if accidentally played at a too-slow rpm.

Opening track "Discount Lawyer," for instance, features churning guitar and a rhythmically syncopated melody that delivers lines like "You sound tonight/Like a discount lawyer/Talk is cheap/You can trust me on that/'Cause the bill when it comes/It's got my name on it" as if underwater.

The singer/guitarist is also joined on the song by humming keys, a spare tambourine or hi-hat, and measure-marking bass drum that occasionally expands to full, muffled kit.

Much of the album continues in kind -- subtly catchy and half asleep -- with exceptions coming in the form of tracks like the brisk and fuzzy "Wrong Answer," which embraces a hazy, uptempo punk, and the strummy, shaker-accompanied "Falcon Heavy." Standout entry "A Song in French" falls somewhere in between those and the rest, with its midtempo wistfulness and Casio-type keyboard line clearly indicating heartbreak for those who can't translate.

Attractively gloomy and ramshackle, Free Advice's reticent pop disarms much more often than not.

- allmusic.com
 
  • Tracklisting
  • 1.1. DISCOUNT LAWYER
  • 1.2. FALCON HEAVY
  • 1.3. SEEING DOUBLE
  • 1.4. WRONG ANSWER
  • 1.5. SONG 23
  • 1.6. FIXED IDEA
  • 1.7. A SONG IN FRENCH
  • 1.8. CSI: CREEPTOWN
  • 1.9. APRIL MAGAZINE
  • 1.10. FREE ADVICE
  • 1.11. LOST ON ME